In many instances, it is necessary to pump a liquid, such as fuel, such as gasoline or diesel fuel or the like, water, and so on, from a first container, into a second container. The first container might be a transportable container such as a plastic or metal can used for transporting fuel, commonly called a “Jerry can”, or similar. The second container might be a fuel tank on a vehicle, a snowmobile, a lawnmower, and so on, or might be another transportable container.
Where the liquid cannot be poured from the first container to the second container, for various reasons, such as safety, the process of transferring liquids is commonly performed by siphoning the liquid from the first container into the second container. It is well known to use one's mouth to start the siphoning process; however, this is often very undesirable, especially if a liquid such as a fuel is being siphoned. Accordingly, various types of pumps exist to make the process less undesirable, less dangerous, quicker, and so on.
In spite of the general availability of pumps (typically electrically operated) that might be suitable for pumping liquids from one container to another, it is uncommon for individuals to have readily available a pump that can be used in a situation such as filling a lawnmower fuel tank, filling a vehicle fuel tank (if the vehicle has run out of fuel), filling a boat fuel tank, and so on. It is much more common to merely pour the fuel from a container.
It is believed that part of the reason for this manner of transferring fuel is that there is a definite lack of ready-to-use, inexpensive pumping systems that are suitable for pumping liquids, especially fuel from a first container to a second container.
There are also other instances where pumping a liquid, such as fuel, is very difficult, and indeed, possibly even somewhat dangerous, due to the nature of the liquid. For instance, when removing fuel from a fuel tank in a vehicle, the only known way in the prior art to accomplish this is to siphon the fuel. The method of siphoning is a nuisance, and is even potentially dangerous when transferring fuel since it is common for a person to suck on the transfer hose in order to start the siphoning action. Further, the end container must be below the level of the fuel tank.
There are two-known prior art systems that are ready-to-use and may be suitable for transferring liquids, such as fuel, in some situations. Essentially, they are siphoning pumps that can be used to transfer liquid from a raised container to a container, tank, or the like, located at a lower elevation.
One such a siphoning pump is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,412,528 issued Jul. 2, 2002 to Alex et al. This manually operative siphoning pump comprises a pump mechanism disposed within a housing. The housing has an extended handle that leads to an inlet hose and also has a tubular outlet nozzle. A pump mechanism disposed within the housing comprises a cylindrical pump body disposed in fluid communication with the inlet hose and the tubular outlet nozzle. A cylindrical head mounted on an elongate cylindrical stem moves axially within the pump body to pump liquids from the inlet hose to the outlet hose disposed within the tubular outlet nozzle. The elongate cylindrical stem has a male retaining bulb seated within a female retaining bulb that is part of a bellows. A lever arm is pivotally mounted on the extended handle and engages the male retaining bulb to permit manual operation of the pump mechanism. The pump mechanism acts as a siphon to suction liquids from whatever source that the inlet hose is in fluid communication with.
There are at least three very distinct disadvantages to the siphoning pump apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,412,528. Firstly, since this is a siphoning type of apparatus, the source of liquid must be located at an elevation above the pump and the destination container. This is extremely undesirable in situations where one might be filling a fuel tank on a vehicle and must hold a portable fuel can several feet in the air during the entire pumping operation, which might last several minutes. Further, there may be instances where the source of liquid is in a container, or the like, that cannot be elevated, such as if it is a permanent structure or is far too heavy to lift. In this case, the siphoning pump disclosed in the Alex et al patent would not work.
A second serious disadvantage relates to siphoning pressure limitations. Since the pump is only hand-operable by design, the maximum force that can be expected to be applied to the pumping mechanism is quite low. Accordingly, the pumping mechanism cannot be overly large and also has a limited maximum pumping throughout, that has been found to be lower than is desirable. Further, since the siphoning pump in the Alex et al patent necessitates hand operation, the duration that an individual can use this siphoning apparatus is generally quite limited.
An additional disadvantage relates to the amount of liquid flow realized during the pumping process. The amount of liquid flow is directly related to the pressure head of the volume of liquid being pumped. As the volume of liquid decreases during pumping so does the pressure head caused by the elevated volume of liquid. The rate of flow of the liquid being siphoned also decreases correspondingly. Accordingly, it can take a considerable amount of time to pump a volume of liquid.
Another such pumping system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,021 issued Sep. 14, 1993 to Hau. This fuel transfer container has a small hand operable squeeze bulb connected in fluid communication with the interior of the container. This squeeze bulb provides just enough pressure to start the siphoning action of the fuel in the container, through the inner dispensing conduit and out dispensing conduit, and then through the flexible delivery tube, when the lower end of the flexible delivery tube is located at a lower elevation than the liquid in the container.
It is not possible to actually pump liquid from within the container to an elevation above the container, which is highly undesirable. Accordingly, in instances where the destination of the liquid is at an elevation above the ground, the container must be raised above that elevation. One example of this would be transferring fuel from a fuel container into the fuel tank of a vehicle. It would be necessary to either set the container on the trunk of the vehicle, which is highly undesirable and also would require steadying of the container. However, it is necessary to use two hands in order to manipulate and operate this apparatus, which does not leave a free hand for steadying the container, which makes the procedure very difficult to perform safely. Further, in the event that the vehicle has no convenient surface, such as a trunk, to place the container on during use, the container would need to be held while transferring fuel. This is essentially not possible for one person to do, if they are also squeezing the squeeze bulb and holding the flexible delivery tube.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a positive pressure liquid transfer and removal system configured for operation by a hand and by a foot, for pumping liquids from one container to another.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a positive pressure liquid transfer and removal system configured for operation by a hand and by a foot, for pumping liquids from one container to another, wherein the pumping mechanism and the destination can be at the same elevation or at a higher elevation than the source.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a positive pressure liquid transfer and removal system configured for operation by a hand and by a foot, for pumping fuel from one container to another.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a positive pressure liquid transfer and removal system configured for operation by a hand and by a foot, for pumping fuel from a fuel tank in a vehicle to a destination.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a positive pressure liquid transfer and removal system configured for operation by a hand and by a foot, for pumping liquids from one container to another, that is inherently more safe than prior art systems where two hands are required.